Thais Move To Extradite Former S. Vietnamese Pilot

Thais move to extradite former S.Vietnamese pilot

BANGKOK: -- A former South Vietnamese air force pilot jailed in Thailand for hijacking a plane to drop anti-Communist leaflets over Vietnam is to face extradition proceedings at Hanoi's request, officials said on Wednesday.

Ly Tong, a naturalised U.S. citizen who served 5-½ years in a Thai jail, was in police custody and the courts would decide whether he would be extradited to Vietnam despite pleas from Vietnamese communities in the United States, they said.

"Although he has completed his sentence on aviation charges, he has been arrested again on extradition charges," Police Lieutenant Colonel Chakrit Iamchangpun told Reuters.

"It will take months before the court decides whether to extradite him," he said.

Ly Tong, in his late 50s, was found guilty of hijacking a small plane in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin in 2000 to fly across the Gulf of Thailand to Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon.

He dropped thousands of anti-government leaflets over the former South Vietnamese capital to coincide with a visit to the Communist country by then U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Clinton was the first U.S. president to visit Vietnam since the communist North Vietnamese Army defeated Washington-backed South Vietnam in 1975, sparking a mass exodus of refugees to the United States.

Ly Tong, who admitted to the hijacking, initially chartered the plane, but once on board he unplugged the radio and instructed the pilot to fly to Vietnam.

He was arrested by Thai police on his return.

Despite pleas from Vietnamese communities in the United States to be allowed to go home, the Thai government said it was up to the court to decide on the matter. "The Vietnamese government has requested his extradition through diplomatic channels, and we are just following the legal procedures," Foreign Ministry spokesman Kitti Wasinondh said.

"It is up to the court to decide."

--Reuters 2006-05-17